Sore throat-what do you turn to?

[forgop]

My throat is on fire...cough drops don't help and Havana Club 7 year old don't touch it either.

[Bageland2000]

Gargle warm salt water

[icehog3]

Tea with honey. I don't drink hot tea, except when I have a sore throat.

[yakman]

I do hot tea with lots of lemon, sugar and a little bit or vodka in it.

[forgop]

Tea with honey. I don't drink hot tea, except when I have a sore throat.

My anatomy professor gave a recipe last semester for something like heating up 2 cups water with 2 lemon halves in it to a boil and reducing it to 1 cup. Then add honey to taste. I used it a few times, but I thought that was better suited for sinus/cold type stuff than just strictly a sore throat. I'll try that as well.

[jmsremax]

Tea with honey!

[McSmokey]

Bourbon lemon and honey

[Zeuceone]

Honey heated with tequila and add lemon.

[kelmac07]

Warm tea and honey works magic on a sore throat. A shot of Jack couldn't hurt either. :D

[Starscream]

Jack, Jim, George, or Evan can help you out.

[BlackDog]

I like to gargle with salt water. And bourbon doesn't hurt either. ;)

[TheCigarNut]

Same as others, warm tea, honey and vodka or tequilla

[forgop]

I used my anatomy professor's suggestion of water/lemon/honey (as I don't have any tea in the house at the moment) and that didn't help. Hope I don't have strep, but I sure have the symptoms.

[pnoon]

A shot or two of your favorite dark spirit (scotch, rye, bourbon, rum, etc.), a tablespoon or two of honey, a pat of butter. Put them in a pint glass. Fill with hot water from a tea kettle. Stir to melt the butter and dissolve the honey. Drink hot (or at least warm).

[Whipper Snapper]

Ibuprofen?

[woops]

I'll add my 2 cents:

For years I use to be a big proponent of the honey/lemon tea until I discovered the drink that always seems to work, for me (and my family/friends).

Peppermint Tea.

No sugar, milk, lemon, or honey. It's different if you're not use to it, but ....

There is no better drink for a sore throat! IMO. :)

Peppermint Tea.

[Ranger_B]

Hot tea with honey as others have said. Then cloroseptic.

[ChicagoWhiteSox]

A shot or two of your favorite dark spirit (scotch, rye, bourbon, rum, etc.), a tablespoon or two of honey, a pat of butter. Put them in a pint glass. Fill with hot water from a tea kettle. Stir to melt the butter and dissolve the honey. Drink hot (or at least warm).

Hmm. What's the reason behind the butter? I've heard of this before.

[pnoon]

Hmm. What's the reason behind the butter? I've heard of this before.

Taste.

[LostAbbott]

Get some cheap scotch with a high alcohol content and gargle and swallow that, should kill most anything that is bothering you...

[Bill86]

Cough drops and whiskey.

[longknocker]

If Your Sore Throat Is Not Better After A Couple Of Days, Go See A Physician & Get A Throat Culture. Only Way To Diagnose Strep.:tu

[BigCat]

Hot tottie - tea, whiskey and honey. It can work wonders, and if you have a few (or 6) and have a heavy pour like me, get you drunk. Your throat will either feel better, or you'll forget about it. Either way, just as good.

[kugie]

Tea with Honey or a mint tea with Honey

[OLS]

Gargle warm salt water

DING DING...winner.

[357]

Gargle warm salt water

The more salty the better. Don't over do it with the salt though, it will make you gag if you do. The salt actually helps kill some of the bacteria causing the sore throat. Ibuprofin will also help reduce the swelling wich is also a major factor. As Greg said though, if it remains for more than a couple days get a step test done at your doctor's office. Often, but not everytime, you can see strep as white mucous covered tonsils; assuming you haven't had them removed.

You can rinse your mouth with fresh water after, but try not to rinse the back of your throat. Leave the salt back there to do its thing if you can.


If you can't gagle warm salt water, any kind of hot tea will help. I would avoid the sugar if you can as it will give the bacteria more food to reproduce with.

[mpd340]

Hot tottie - tea, whiskey and honey. It can work wonders, and if you have a few (or 6) and have a heavy pour like me, get you drunk. Your throat will either feel better, or you'll forget about it. Either way, just as good.

This is what i would also recommend!

[IBQTEE1]

I always stop and get a strawberry milkshake from Steak and Shake!

[Blueface]

My anatomy professor gave a recipe last semester for something like heating up 2 cups water with 2 lemon halves in it to a boil and reducing it to 1 cup. Then add honey to taste. I used it a few times, but I thought that was better suited for sinus/cold type stuff than just strictly a sore throat. I'll try that as well.

We do that with limes. I assure you, it works.

[wayner123]

I have used a combination of things.

For homeopathic route I would go with a combination of mother tinctures:

White Oak
Licorice
Calendula

10-20 drops of each in about 8oz of water. Gargle half of it and the swallow the other half. Do this in the morning and at night. This is not so much for instant relief (although it will help) but it will right whatever is wrong within a day or two.

I have also used a tbsp of honey with a lemon wedge squeezed on top. This is really good for instant relief.

For pharmaceuticals:

Chloraseptic - works wonders
Listerine - Gargle it for at least 30 seconds.
Mortrin or other NSAID
Ricola

[357]

Zinc losenges will help the symptoms too. Not sure if it helps fix anything.

[kaisersozei]

Another vote for gargling with warm salt water.

And a shot of Nyquil before bed. Nyquil fixes everything.

[HK3-]

I'm a whore for throat spray. Vics 44 throat spray will work wonders.

[CueTheMusic]

I have several things:

Brandy!! Drink it straight. My parents do blackberry brandy, but I personally think that is gross, I like the regular stuff.

Hot wine (usually get a cheap shiraz. don't bother with a good wine...)

The last thing isn't pleasant for most people, but I'll just eat a small amount of ground cayenne pepper. Really gets the saliva glands working :) There are people that recommend gargling or putting it in a drink as well.

[jjirons69]

I can't stand it long before I hit the local Sawbones. Plus my voice usually fades away. They usually give a steroid shot that helps with the swelling and it'll ease off by the following day. Sore throats suck!

[icehog3]

DING DING...winner.

Sweet! What are you sending him? :D

[forgop]

Thanks for the tips...will try doing a couple of these tonight. Amazingly, it got a lot better today, but still is sore. At least the throat spray numbed it just a bit today. To think I was on the verge of going to urgent care last night, but didn't because they had already closed...

I don't think it was strep now as I never had a fever, but the other thing I did notice was a bit of pressure in my ears. Guessing it may be an ear infection. I remember a couple of years ago, my daughter came down with strep and I thought I came down with it, but it was an ear infection. That was strange.